3Com MBA Top Technical Support Questions and Answers ==================================================== 3Com MBA for NetWare Q. When booting from the 3Com MBA ROM, my computer hangs after the message "Jumping to Boot Record" is displayed. Why is this? A. The common cause of this symptom is a boot image file that has been RPLFIXED. Contrary to popular belief, boot image files SHOULD NOT BE RPLFIXED unless you are using 3Com MBA ROM with a release date prior to June 17, 1991. If the image file was not RFLFIXED then scan the boot diskette for possible virus infection. Q. I always get the error message "Ethernet card is improperly configured or not connected to the network" after the ODI driver is loaded. Why is this? A. See the answer to the next question. Q. Whenever I create a boot image file with ODI drivers booting fails right after the MLID driver is loaded. Why is this? A. This is the symptom of boot image file missing the RPLODI driver ( RPLODI.COM ). When using ODI drivers, RPLODI must be loaded in your batch file prior to loading the MLID driver. RPLODI is a Novell product which is included in the NetWare installation diskettes; however you can download this file from the Lanworks web site. (www.lanworks.com). Q. I get the error message " Fatal Error: BootStamp not Found" whenever I load RPLODI.COM A. The error message will occur when you boot from a floppy or hard drive but will not occur when booting from the ROM. Simply ignore it. Q. Must I load the RPL.NLM at the server when I install the 3Com MBA ROMs? A. Lanworks 3Com MBA ROMs DO NOT interact in any way with Novell's RPL NLM, and do not require it. Q. 3Com MBA displays a series of RX2s across on the screen then reports that the file server could not be found. A. The message indicates that 3Com MBA could not find a file server. Ensure that ROM is using the same Ethernet frame type as the file server. For example, if the 3Com MBA ROM was configured to use Ethernet_802.2 frame type, then the same frame type was be bound to the LAN adapter installed at the file server. Q. After the message "MSD: no reply" is displayed I get a few lines of RX2s then finally the message "File server not found". What's happening? A. This is usually the result of a frame type mismatch. The frame type of 3Com MBA ROM must match that of the file server. Example, if the bootROM is configured/hardcoded for the Ethernet 802.3 frame type, then is frame type must also be bound at the file server. Simply put, a bootROM "talking" Ethernet 802.3 will only be answered by a file server "talking the same language" - Ethernet 802.3. Q. Do your ROMs support Novell's VLM drivers? A. Yes, all 3Com MBA support Novell's VLM; however, you must use VLM.EXE version 1.10 or higher. Prior versions have been known to cause various problems when accessing Drive A:. Q. After upgrading the VLM v1.20, the workstation tries to access drive immediately after loading VLM. What's happening? A. We're not sure of the reason for this but here are 2 ways of fixing this problem: a) Incorporate BWLOADHI.COM in your boot image file. Simply download BWLOADHI.ZIP from our web site and follow the instructions in the BWLOADHI.DOC file. b) Use the SET COMSPEC environment variable just before loading VLM, e.g. LSL RPLODI HPFEODI IPXODI SET COMSPEC=F:COMMAND.COM VLM F: LOGIN Q. What does the error message "MSD: no reply" mean? A. This is not an error, it's just a message from the 3Com MBA ROM indicating that a BootWare MSD server was not found. General 3Com MBA Q. I can't format a diskette from Windows File Manager. What gives? A. This is a known problem. There is nothing wrong with the 3Com MBA ROM, only a Windows pecurliarity. Windows File Manager will not allow you to format the drive that you booted from. If you booted from the hard drive, File Manager would not allow you to format drive C. The same principle would apply to Drive A: if you were to boot your machine from a floppy drive. Because the Boot ROM "simulates" booting from Drive A:, File Manager will not allow you to format a diskette in Drive A:. Fortunately, there are 2 way around this: a) Download BOOT_ID.COM TSR program from our web site, a load it just before you start Windows. Thereafter, you will be able to format a diskette in Drive A:. b) Simply shell to the command prompt by double-clicking MSDOS icon then manually enter the format command with the proper switches to format the diskette. This will work fine. Q. I just bought your 3Com MBA ROM and inserted it properly into the ROM socket, turned on the computer but nothing happened. What did I do wrong? A. Unless you have a PCI adapter, you have missed a step. After you've installed the ROM, you must then enable it. This is normally done by a) running the software configuration program supplied with your LAN adapter, b) setting the appropriate jumpers and/or switches on the LAN adapter, or c) a combination of both.